Chapter 108: Prisoner

When Cleamon was travelling across the different realms he found that some higher societies had thought of new ways for entertainment. Many of the realms were safe and free travel between cities and even continents was normal.

Giant magical beasts could be tamed by skilled magicians and used for mass transport, they even had special facilities to breed such creatures. One thing that stands out is a place where couples and children had the most fun, a beautiful lake turned to ice. Magic made it snow whilst the snow disappeared just before it hit the ground, creating a magical spectacle.

People would use ice-skates, literally made from ice, to skate across the ice. Even small competitions were held on a weekly basis. The grace and poise of the professionals attracted many tourist, even from other realms.

Coming back to reality, Cleamon thinks of a way to use that idea in the city.

‘The biggest problem I’m facing is the space needed’ he thinks with a sigh.

Gedour city is currently at it’s limits with houses and business everywhere you can look. Over the past decades the city has expanded a few times, but each time a massive amount of mana and magicians were needed to move the wall. The results of this process are still visible in the city, as many streets form a circle. The place where the wall used to be and where the houses form a circle, the new road was made. All the main roads lead to the same origin.

‘Should I ask the king about a new expansion?’ Cleamon wonders.

‘In the past no such decision was made so it might deviate that future even more from ours. Now that the Gambrill family has been destroyed the Myrtics will try and stay quiet as long as needed. This gives us time to prepare another attack’

‘I should check on the prisoners, Izbella should be amongst them as well. I feel bad for her as she wasn’t any part in this mess’

Cleamon quickly makes some food and drinks and heads back to the training room.

“I got some food and drinks, sorry it took a bit longer than expected” Cleamon says entering the room.

Outside the room almost thirty minutes past, which is more than two hours.

Cleamon notices that the both of them are too concentrated to even notice his presence. He leaves the food behind and quickly writes a note stating he’ll be back after a while.

It would take them another two hours to notice the food and the note.

———————————————–

After a night of agonizing pain, Almar was finally recovered and could talk again. Even though the noise was painful for the people nearby, the king insisted on staying with Almar.

“Sire I’m grateful for you supporting me, but it wasn’t necessary” Almar says.

“Nonsense! And what’s with the polite speech all of a sudden? If anything I should be polite to you” the king says.

“Well things have changed over the years, you grew up from a small boy into a king. I’ve always told you to be respectful to leaders, that principle counts for me as well” Almar explains with a calm demeanor.

“It’s just weird since your are my teacher and master on multiple levels. You even taught my father when he was young” the king says.

At that point knocking can be heard on the door.

“Sire, Cleamon is here to see you” the guard posted outside the door says.

“Fine, let him in”

Cleamon enters the room and notices the two older men happily chatting.

“Sire, it’s good to see that you’re healed. Master I’m sorry I put you through that” Cleamon says with a bow.

“Don’t be like that, thanks to you I recovered quickly. If I had to restore my mana by normal means it would take me a month or so” Almar says with a smile.

“On that subject, how did you manage to acquire that potion? It’s nothing like I’ve seen before” he asks.

“I made it, actually I have a relatively large batch of them. However I’m keeping them hidden for now as they might cause some issues when the larger families discover their use” Cleamon says grabbing a bright blue potion from his bracelet.

“I was about to suggest the same thing, don’t tell anyone about this potion. However I am intrigued as to how you came across the recipe for it” Almar says.

“I’m sorry, but that I can’t tell” Cleamon says slightly bowing.

“I see, well make sure you keep the recipe a secret. We don’t want the Myrtics family to catch wind of it”

“Yes sir. On that note, is it possible for me to visit they people you’ve taken captive? One of my friends should be amongst them I want to see if she’s okay” Cleamon asks politely.

“I don’t think they are awake yet, the sleeping gas should last for 48 hours” Almar says.

“That’s okay, actually I wanted to get her out of there, but I’m afraid to how she’ll react to the sudden change in environment” Cleamon says.

“Also I wonder when Yako will come back, she didn’t arrive here with you” he continues.

“As for your friend, she was taking care of me until I regained consciousness. I told her taking me to the medical ward would be fine and she could take a look at the Myrtics family. So if she isn’t back yet, she’ll be still watching them” Almar explain.

“Okay thank you, what about my friend stuck in the prison?”

“If you can assure she’s not involved in any of this, I’ll write a letter for release. However you are to watch her actions and are responsible for her” the king says.

“Yes sire I will take care of her” Cleamon says resolutely.

He heads down to the prison and is greeted by a guard, he shows the letter letting him pass.

Crossing different holding cells he notices that there are many families sleeping together. Within ten minutes he finds Izbella, she’s asleep on the same bed as her parents and brother.

‘I’m glad her direct family wasn’t a part of this, having to explain that one of her parents or her brother had died would not be a fun thing to do…’ Cleamon thinks.

With the key in hand, he opens the prison door. With one arm he puts her over his shoulder and takes her outside.

Arriving back at their housing another hour has passed.

He takes her into one of the empty rooms and puts her on bed, then heads down to his own lab. Before he goes to make the wake up potion, he enters the time training room.

Inside that room, more than five hours have passed since Cleamon left.

On both of their desks are two completed items.

“It looks like you guys made some progress while I was gone” Cleamon says rather impressed.

“Ah, Cleamon! We’re improving fast can you check the items we finished?” Homian says wiping away some of his sweat.

“Sure”

Cleamon walks over to Homian’s desk first and sees that the potions made are much more clear than before.

“Good job, I’d say these are about 80% of their real potential. It seems using those bracelets really helps. However to complete this challenge you have to create half of the potions without the use of the bracelets” Cleamon says.

Homian looks a bit shocked at that revelation.

“Why?” he asks shocked.

“Because you need to be able to do this without any external tools or help. This is not just alchemy training, but also a way to make you better at controlling your mana” Cleamon explains.

“I see… and I thought I was making good progress” Homian says a bit dejected.

“Don’t worry, once you get the hang of it you’ll notice massive improvements. It’s the initial step that is really hard, although there are variants to what you can do”

Cleamon pats Homian on the back and moves to Amara, who’s been sweating profusely after hearing the conversation. Seeing her flash her eyes at him he smiles.

“I’m not going to tell you the same thing, however you are not allowed to use potions unless your mana has reached the bottom level. Your mana control is much better than his, but your Magic Soul is a lot smaller causing you to run out much faster than him. This training is to increase that pool forcefully, by making your Magic Soul deflate and then expand beyond what it was before. So after your mana is gone, take a potion and wait until your Magic Soul can’t take anymore before going back to your task”

“O-okay, how much longer will it take for me to complete this then?” she asks.

“Well you’re about 25% there time-wise. I’d say around the 75% percent mark you’ll get the hang of it and the last part will be much easier”